Multifamily

MG Properties Group

MG Properties Group studies market trends before it purchases and repositions apartment properties. By Jim Harris

MG Properties Group takes a focused approach to acquiring and repositioning apartment properties. “We have a limited number of target markets,” says Patti Gray, COO of the San Diego-based company. “We thoroughly learn those markets and submarkets, which enables us to create solid business plans for each property on the front end of each individual deal.”

The company’s business plans outline strategic capital improvements designed to reposition underperforming properties. MG Properties Group considers a number of factors before acquiring a property, including demographics and employment opportunities in the area. The company focuses its efforts on providing quality housing to the middle class. “We look for buildings that present opportunities for us to not only improve the physical product but also the overall resident experience,” Gray says.

For most of MG Properties Group’s acquisitions, physical upgrades involve exterior and interior improvements that have a significant impact on the property curb appeal and first impression of prospects. “Although we do have a few very high end properties and a few lower income properties, our most prevalent strategy takes a high quality C+ or B- property and repositions it to a B+ or an A- property through improved management and physical improvements,” she adds.

Upgrades often include exterior painting, enhancing or adding common area amenities and improving the appearance of leasing centers, fitness centers and clubhouses. Interior unit changes vary widely be5tween properties however often the scope will include updating interior finishes to a more modern look.

A Lasting Vision

MG Properties Group acquires, rehabilitates and manages apartment communities in the Western United States. Since its founding in 1992, MG Properties Group has acquired and managed more than 113 properties totaling more than 17,000 units. The company today manages over 12,500 apartments in 55 communities located in California, Arizona, Nevada, Washington and Oregon.

The company’s recent projects include Riverwalk at Happy Valley in Happy Valley, Ore., which the company acquired in late September; Reflections at the Marina, a 240-unit apartment community in Sparks, Nev.; and Mosaic Hills, a complex in Kent, Wash. MG Properties is also under contract on properties in Southern California, Washington and Arizona.

Gray credits the company’s success to its founder and CEO Mark Gleiberman. “Mark had a vision for the company and surrounded himself with great people who have stuck with us for many years and through several ups and downs,” she says, noting that the majority of the company’s executive staff remained intact throughout the Great Recession. “We’re not a small company, but we’re also not so large that we don’t have freedom to be creative in the way we do things.”

In addition to Gray, who joined the company in 2005, MG Properties’ executive staff includes Senior Vice President of Property Management Melise Balastrieri, who joined MG in 1998; Senior Vice President of Construction and Maintenance Marc Wing, a 10-year veteran of the company; Vice President of Investment Management Lane Jorgensen, who joined the company in August 2005; and Investor Relations Director Kavita Agarwal, who also joined in 2005; Vice President of Human Resources Bernadette Levy, who joined the company in 2008; and Vice President of Acquisitions Paul Kaseburg, who joined in 2010.

The most recent additions to the company’s senior staff are Chief Investment Officer Christian Garner, who joined MG Properties Group in 2015 after working nearly 30 years in real estate investment; CFO Joseph Anfuso, a 10-plus year real estate finance veteran who joined the company in 2015; and Asset Manager Jeff Gleiberman, who joined the company in 2014.

The executive team and the rest of MG Properties’ staff is tight-knit. “We’ve managed to maintain the feel of a smaller company, in spite of significant growth and change,” Gray says. “It’s important for us to maintain an entrepreneurial and collaborative culture – that’s a big part of who we are.”